Queenpin-- my kind of gals

I loved the premise from the start and heard good thing about Megan Abbott's female characters in Queenpin. Even the title looked great.

Overall, this book is a win. A couple of dames that I can enjoy. Tough, focused, professional. The kind of dames I love to see in fiction, though they are so rare.

Though, I admit I had trouble in the middle of the book when the narrator got wrapped up with Vic. I don't care for women who get all tangled in relationships-- which is without a doubt a personal preference and should not be held at all against Megan Abbott. (To give the narrator credit, she seemed to be thinking more with her pants than her heart, but I still prefer if she had been thinking with her head...)

But the book redeemed itself and I'm glad that I kept reading past the parts where the narrator was bemoaning how she was screwing herself. I'd actually like to see what happens with the narrator next-- I liked her that much.

Fans of Bo Fexler may well enjoy Queenpin.

Another Hit for Baby Shark

Just finished the latest Baby Shark book, High Plains Redemption. Another good one.

Baby Shark was even back to some pool playing in this one. Yea! I'm definitely interested in seeing where this series will go next.

Oh, yeah. My copy of High Plains Redemption came autographed. =D That's one of the best parts of the internet. I get to be in touch with super awesome celebrities. Like Robert Fate.

I think Baby Shark might be able to give Bo a run for her money. Though Baby Shark is a bit more apt to use a gun (or two) than Bo. And Bo's more apt to use her body. But still, it's nice to read a woman who can keep her head when someone's pulled a gun or slapped her around.

I Like this Woman

All three of them actually.



Just read Tess Gerritsen's 'The Sinner.' The two female leads, Maura and Rizzoli are good female characters. I'm hoping I'll find them in other books, either together or even seperately.



The case was good, too. Gerritsen's obvious knowledge of the medical field really showed and, for a total nerd like myself, greatly enhanced the story. Two dead nuns, some buried secrets, and some former lovers. It was a compelling story-- with just enough held back, just enough twists carefully paced that I barely got up to use the restroom let alone put the book down.



The relationship drama was the only detraction from this otherwise wonderful book. (See my previous post.) There were certainly some issues where the women were a little too easily distracted by the love lives. It wasn't bad, mind you. I realize that love lives affect the rest of one's life, fiction or otherwise. I thnk, though, that if only Maura's tumultuous relationship was occuring, this book would be even better. Rizzoli's issues were secondary, didn't seem important, and didn't really help define her as a character. In my opinion. But I'm also looking at it through a bias against relationship drama.



The case was good, the pacing was excellent. This one gets three and a half stars. It'd have gotten the full four, I think if there was only one relationship that was going down/up in flames. But still, a good book. Thanks, Ms. Gerritsen. I needed to find this book. =)

Books and Reviews

Since my box of to-be-read books is stil about as well controlled as a Chia Pet on growth hormones, I don't usually read too many reviews or think much about the next books I might consider possibly getting. Though I come across quite a few reviews in the corner of the blogosphere where I hangout in the cone of diffuse yellow light from a lone streetlight. I might skim a paragraph or two, but, sorry folks, I have to curb my book buying.

In fact, besides Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues, I went nearly five months without procuring any new books. I even made some progress on The Box. That changed when I stopped by the book store-- it was the compromise on going to the movie theatre for our Anniversary Sunday. That's my gift to Hubby-- I go to the theatre and don't bitch about how much I hate the theatre (and the people and the prices) until we leave. That's a long time to chew on those complaints. But, we went to the bookstore to "browse" before the movie started. Ha!

I never agreed to merely browse! (I don't like browsing. It's like eating without swallowing.) So, I specifically went in search of new books. I was happy to find several: Easy Innocence, Hallowed Ground, and Branded Woman. I was hoping for the Christa Faust book, but the Hard Case Crime section was a little light at our baby Borders store. These were books that I've read and heard good things about as I slither through the dark corners of the blogosphere. Titles and authors that I took note of-- and didn't even have to write down to remember.

I don't know if it was reviews or just general blog chatter that lead me to my latest books. I don't remember much about reviews that I read. Prehaps because I never read a review with the intention of finding out if I want to buy the book. I read Terry Lawson's movie reviews that way, but not book reviews.

Book reviews, for me, end up being something of a checklist. Particularly a checklist of "don'ts" for my own writing. Without fail, everytime I read a review, I mull it over. And if I'm taking one of my treks halfway across the county to and from work, I muse the whole way. Do I do that? What about this one scene-- would that be considered... what if I tweak it?

I obsess over every scene, every phrase, every plot development. I hold my story up to the reviews. And obsess some more.

I'd like to think that all this obsessing makes me a better writer than I would be otherwise. But somedays, I think it just makes me crazy. Or crazier than I am on normal days. XD

• Reading: Mildred Peirce by James M. Cain
• Novel Progress: Line editing
• What I should be doing: My grad school final project.
• Current Song: Paralyzer by Finger Eleven

Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues

I loved the first Baby Shark book and devoured it in a reading frenzy of 24hours. This second book was good, but didn't quite grab me the same way.

There was one single allusion to Kristin's Baby Shark nickname. She didn't once trounce the guys at pool. This boook seemed a bit detached from Kristin, compared to the first one.

The first book was very personal since it dealt with Kritin's revenge. The second book moves her into the private eye business, so there's no personal angle. That was biggest drawback in the book.

The writing was fine, the story was interesting, I just wanted more of the Kristin I'd gotten to know from the first book to show up. Still, I'd recommend it. Still a good, solid book. And I can't wait until I can get my little hands on book #3.

In other news, things got crazy around here. It was the LAST week of classes. Plus I had a baby shower for my sister in law to attend (I'm too young to procreate ;-). And the Alternative Ed Graduation.

And today's my wedding anniversary, so I'm trying to get this post out of the way so we can have the rest of the day to play. No idea what we're doing-- eating out it a challenge at best since I'm allergic to everything. Gas prices are insane. I barely tolerate the movie theatre. Good thing he's tolerant and easy-going. I knew there was a reason (or two) I married this guy.

• Novel Progress: Line editing
• Reason for not writing: see above
• Current Song: No Handlebars by the Flobots

Forgotten Book Friday

This is Patti Abbot's idea. She's a clever one.

The idea is to review a book that's not the current top book that everyone has read or heard about.

My pick: The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler.

This book weaves a tale through multiple characters and settings. The oppessive heat and hustle of the city contrasts with the quiet, peacefulness of the lake cabin. But it's Chandler, so there's plenty of people out to do bad and cover up what they and others have done wrong.

One of the best parts about this book, I think, is how well Chandler brings all the strands together at the end. The two missing ladies-- one rich, one poor. One very clever. A guy that every woman wants. A cop trying too hard to be tough. Some changed names and bad manners.

Unlike the Big Sleep, which has the guy who went of the pier... all the ends in Lady in the Lake get wrapped up, rather cleverly at the end.

I actually use this book in my Mystery English class. Now, I teach alternative high school kids-- but they like it anyway. Not a single complaint and these kids *will* complain. They outright told me that the movie version (from 1946) was horrible. They're right. Don't watch the movie. Unless you have a good group of people to play Mystery Science Theatre 3000 with during the show.

I have to say, I think "The Lady in the Lake" is my favorite book. Ever. Every time I read it, I enjoy it. Even though I know how it ends.

All right, the last thing I'm supposed to do here is tag someone else to join in the fun. I choose Mystery Dawg (aka Aldo).

Name-Droppings

First off, I have to say that 'Baby Shark', by Robert Fate, was an incredible book. I read it in less than 24 hours. In fact, I was sneaking chapters while I was at school-- the kids were working on their chapters and I was working on mine. 'Baby Shark' was *that* good.


It has the a tough, ass-kicking female lead. It's got well written, snappy prose-- no fluff. There's no detour into Romance Land, though there is a nice guy that shows up for awhile, giving Kristin some feminity. There was a great cast of characters, from Henry to Otis. I wish there had been some more of Kristin playing as the pool shark, but other than that, it was fantastic. I have not read a book this engaging in quite some time. I'm afraid to read anything else for fear that it won't be as good as 'Baby Shark'.

Kristin, aka Baby Shark, could give Bo Fexler a run for her money. =)

Now, along those lines is something I've been mulling over. Name dropping. I use a few select product references in my stories. Some just for effect-- such as the mental image of Bo driving her Camaro. Some because they're my prefrence-- note that Bo prefers Diet Pepsi. In the latter category, I've been toying with the idea of doing some name dropping in Bo's reading.

Every now and again, Bo picks up a book. I've been thinking about referencing some of the good books I've read as Bo's reading material. Such as having her get engrossed in, say, 'Baby Shark'. Or have her reading 'Under a Raging Moon'. Of course, being the sort of person I am, anything mentioned specifically would be portrayed positively-- boring books will be just generic boring books.

Would readers notice? Perhaps a few. But to many it would likely be as innocuous as mentioning that Bo was grooving to Tool's "Schism" while crusing down the e-way. A pop culture reference that passes unknown. But it means something to me, and I might just share it with the world.

Thoughts?

Who am I to argue?

Check out this review of Out of the Gutter #4 by Rod Lott at Bookgasm. The guy seems to have pretty good taste.

As for an anthology of Bo Fexler shorts-- someday. I've got over 50k in published shorts so far. That doesn't include the four shorts that are currently pending publication. First, I'd like to get the novel done. I've heard that it's rather unlikely for an 'unkown' author to get their own anthology published. But when Bo's first novel takes the nation by storm, I'll have that anthology ready in the wings to fill in the gap between novels. Not that I've spent any time thinking about this.

But first I have to finish that novel. It's still untitled, and I just took a very painful chunk out of it. 10k words sliced off the tail end. I think I whimpered. (Not that I hit delete. I cut the sections out and pasted them into a "cut scenes" doc since there may be some peices I can still salvage.) The good news, however, is that I have a much better sense of where I'm going now. I know where the missing guy has gone-- minor point in a novel about a missing guy-- and I know who was behind it and why. More trivial details, but the clarification of such should, in theory, barring any unforseen scheduling complications, allow me to make serious progress.

Unless I leave my flash drive at school again...

• Last Story Completed: Par for the Course
• Story in Progress: Bo Novel #1
• Reason for not writing: playing Pokemon CCG with hubby
• Current Song: Stiff Kittens by Blaqk Audio